WASHINGTON (AP) – The government on Friday upheld a determination that U.S. furniture makers are being hurt by imports of Chinese bedroom furniture, clearing the way for the continuation of penalty tariffs on about $1.2 billion in Chinese imports.

The U.S. International Trade Commission voted 6-0 to affirm an early finding that the U.S. industry was being injured because of the imports. American furniture makers have claimed that a surge in Chinese furniture shipments had forced plant closings and more than 35,000 layoffs, concentrated in a number of southeastern states.

Last month, the Commerce Department ruled that the bedroom furniture was being sold in the United States at unfairly low prices, a practice known as dumping.

About two-thirds of the $1.2 billion in shipments will be subjected to tariffs of 8.64 percent while another 35 percent of the products will see tariffs of 2.22 percent to 16.7 percent. Only about 2 percent of the imports will be hit with the highest tariffs of 198 percent.

American manufacturers argued that the penalty tariffs were needed to save U.S. jobs. But U.S. retailers argued that consumers would see price increases because of the higher border taxes.

“Today’s decision is the final go-ahead for imposition of a new, hidden tax that will drive up prices for American consumers while doing nothing to protect U.S. jobs,” said Erik Autor, international trade counsel for the National Retail Federation.

Michael Veitenheimer, a spokesman for the Furniture Retailers of America and the general counsel of the Bombay Company, said that the government had erred in finding that Chinese bedroom furniture was being sold in this country at unfairly low prices and that U.S. companies were being injured by the practice.

“It is a frustrating decision for U.S. retailers and importers who strive to provide their customers with affordable, quality bedroom furniture for their homes,” he said.

China supplies about half of the bedroom furniture imported into the United States each year, an amount that totaled $1.2 billion in 2003.

The government has been collecting the penalty tariffs since last June after both the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission made preliminary determinations that the furniture was being sold at unfair prices and this was harming U.S. manufacturers.

The Commerce Department last month made its final determination on the size of the penalty tariffs, scaling back the tariffs from the preliminary levels.

AP-ES-12-10-04 1913EST

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